A popular concept is that most everyone is good.Many use the word “good” loosely.For example:a mother whose
son has committed a crime; says, “But he is a good boy!”When the rich young ruler came running and kneeling before Jesus he
referred to our Lord as “good Master.”That passage states: “And
when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to
him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good
but one, that is, God.” (Mk.
10:17-18).It is my
conviction that the Son of God was saying to the young man, “For you to call
me good is to acknowledge that I am divine just as the Heavenly Father is
divine.”In the ultimate sense
only the Godhead possesses perfect goodness.

There
may be some good in everyone.At
least there is some good in all humanity in at least one of the following
ways:

Discussion:

I.SOME ARE GOOD – BUT NO GOOD!

A.Such are those who are a menace to society, these include
criminals.

1.We are taught to obey the laws of land.That is, unless a law directly violates God’s laws.

Rom. 13:1, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is
no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Acts 5:29, “Then Peter
and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than
men.”

B.Those who are indifferent to the needs of others are
self-centered.

II Tim. 3:1-5, “This know
also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers
of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors,
heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form
of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

C.There are those who refuse to work.

II Thess. 3:10, “For
even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work,
neither should he eat.”

1.All humanity has responsibilities.From the beginning of time man has been given the obligation to work.

I Tim. 5:8, “But if any
provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath
denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”

Eph. 4:28, “Let him that
stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the
thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

II.SOME ARE GOOD – BUT GOOD FOR WHAT?

A.They do not harm others, but what good do they do?

Lk. 12:13-21, (Tell of the parable of the rich man who was not
compassionate toward the needs of others.)

1.Many well-to-do brethren give of their surplus instead of
generously.Jesus spoke of a poor
widow who gave all that she had.

Mk. 12:41-44, “And Jesus
sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the
treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor
widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto
him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor
widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For
all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all
that she had, even all her living.”

2.We are thankful that there are brethren who are generous with
their time, effort, and money toward furthering the cause of Christ.

B.In life we have positive responsibilities as well as negative
ones.

1.The passages of scripture at Matt.
7:12
and Lk. 6:31
are often called the Golden Rule.The
words in those passages have been paraphrased as:"Do
unto others as you would have them do unto you".

Phil. 2:4, “Look not every man on his
own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

C.Jesus taught several lessons concerning sin of doing nothing.

1.In the Parable of the Talents Jesus spoke of the one talent man
who failed to do anything with his master’s money.He was reprimanded and condemned.

Matt. 25:24-30, (Relate the failure of the one talent man).

D.On the day of Judgment Jesus will either commend or condemn
those standing before Him on whether or not they helped those in need.

Matt. 25:31-46, (Relate why the Lord will either commend or
rebuke us on the Day of Judgment.)

1.We must have an active faith which is proven by our assisting
others.

James 2:14-17, (Either read of elaborate upon this passage).

James 4:17, “Therefore
to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

III.SOME ARE GOOD – BUT GOOD TO BE SEEN OF MEN.

A.Many of the Pharisees of the first century felt their importance
and wanted others to look upon them in that way.

John 12:42-43, “Nevertheless
among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they
loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

B.The old hypocrisy is to act better than what you are.The new hypocrisy is to try to impress the wicked by acting
meaner than what you are.

IV.SOME ARE GOOD – GOOD IN THEIR OWN EYES.

A.A classic example is the Pharisee who set himself up as being
better than others.

Lk. 18:9-14, “And he
spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were
righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the
one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus
with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give
tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not
lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying,
God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house
justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be
abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

B.Such an attitude places such an individual up as his own god, in
setting-up his own standard of righteousness.

Jer. 10:23, “O
LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that
walketh to direct his steps.”

Rom. 10:1-3, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of
God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

V.SOME ARE GOOD – MORALLY GOOD.

A.Morally good people are good neighbors, good citizens, and asset
their community in many ways.

1.Cornelius was just
such a man, but he still needed to hear words to be saved (Acts
11:13-14).

B.The problem is that they have no promise of eternal life.Their personal good is not enough to save them.

Eph. 2:8-9, “For by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

John 14:6, “Jesus saith
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.”

VI.SOME ARE GOOD – GOOD FOR THE CAUSE OF
CHRIST.

A.We are thankful that there are brothers and sisters in Christ
who remain faithful and can be counted upon.

1.Faithful brethren can be counted on to faithfully attend the
services of the church (Psalm 122:1).

2.They can be depended upon to be involved in the work of the
church.They are “…ready
to every good work” (Titus
3:1).

3.Such brethren will support the church in every good way.This includes providing time, involvement, and financially supporting
the work of the church (II Cor. 9:7).

4.These dear brethren possess a good influence.“…they
may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”(Matt. 5:16
).

5.It can truthfully be said emphatically that such brethren are
steadfast (I Cor. 15:58
).

B.The Bible provides us numerous examples of faithful brethren.

1.The scripture reveals that Joseph of Arimathaea who was “a
good man, and a just” provided his own sepulcher to bury the body of
Jesus in (Lk. 23:50-53).

2.There was Barnabas, a
co-worker with the Apostle Paul in evangelism, who was referred to in the
Scripture as “a good man” (Acts
11:24).

Closing:

If
anyone needs to respond to the Lord’s invitation then I urge you to think of
the goodness of our Lord.The
Apostle Paul declared:“…the goodness of God
leadeth thee to repentance?”(Rom. 2:4).

It would be wonderful to hear our Lord say unto us on the Day of
Judgment:Well
done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy
lord.”

(I probably preached this sermon more than fifty years ago.It was probably a “skeleton sermon outline” in Seed
for the Sower by the late Leroy Brownlow.My copy of that book has been missing for several years.I have enlarged it and adapted it to suit myself.)